Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Top health official declares public wards could be made out-of-bounds for non-locals next year as they struggle to meet needs of Hong Kong women

Lo Wei, Colleen Lee and Emily Tsang
Feb 01, 2012

Public hospitals may stop admitting pregnant mainlanders seeking to give birth in Hong Kong to make more facilities available to local women, a senior Hospital Authority official said yesterday.

Speaking in a radio interview, Dr Cheung Wai-lun, the authority's director of hospital groups, said: "We are evaluating next year's quota for non-local pregnant women. There is a chance we might further lower it or we may even stop admitting them."

A quota of 3,400 births has been set for non-local women in public hospitals this year, down from 10,000 last year, and Cheung said it could be lowered even further.

He said the primary aim of public hospitals was to meet local needs.

A decision on quotas for mainland mothers would be made after considering the number of births to local parents and the number of women choosing public medical services over private ones.

Mainland mothers-to-be have an incentive to give birth in the city because of its hospitals' standard of medical care and the right of abode that is conferred to the child under the terms of the Basic Law, the mini-constitution agreed between Beijing and the city's colonial government before the handover in 1997.

Obstetric wards at public hospitals are now fully booked until September.

The quota of 3,400 for non-local women was imposed after the total number of births at public hospitals hit an all-time high of 45,000, which Cheung said exceeded the hospitals' capacity.

The authority's Accident and Emergency Central Co-ordinating Committee chairman, Dr Simon Tang Yiu-hang, said he was worried that reducing the quota for public hospitals even further would encourage more pregnant mainlanders to go to emergency wards, where 1,656 such births were recorded last year.

All public emergency wards have now been equipped for deliveries and for rescuing newborns, and staff have been trained for deliveries.

But Tang emphasised that mothers were taking a considerable risk if they resorted to giving birth this way.

Dr Bill Chan Hin-biu, of the Hong Kong Neonatal Service Concern Group, said the cap on mainland women giving birth in Hong Kong was necessary to control doctors' workloads, as there was a shortage of manpower and experienced staff.

Chan said deterring mainland women from seeking to give birth in emergency wards would depend on whether the government could stop pregnant women at the border, through improving co-operation with mainland authorities.

Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, a member of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, said the NPC had stated in 1999 that babies born to visiting mainland parents in Hong Kong should not be given the right of abode.

But in 2001, the Court of Final Appeal ruled that the right of abode should be given to Chong Fung-yuen, who was born while his parents were in the city on two-way permits.

Fan said, given that the city's government had still not sought a reinterpretation from Beijing after the court's ruling, it now had to consider how to cope with the influx of mainland women giving birth here.

"If the executive measures are found to be ineffective ... the government should discuss with the central government how to solve the problem," Fan said, speaking on the sidelines of a business function. (SCMP)

A row between Hongkongers and mainlanders is reaching boiling point after internet users raised more than HK$100,000 in less than a week to finance a full-page "anti-locust" advertisement in a Chinese-language newspaper in the city.

Critics, urging the government to uphold Hong Kong's values or face a social crisis, warn hostility towards mainlanders will only worsen.

"Tank Man"
(SCMP)

A full-page ad featuring an image of locusts - a label used to refer to mainland visitors among sections of the city's web community - appears in today's Apple Daily, according to the organiser of the fund-raising campaign on the Golden Forum site, a user calling himself Yung Jhon.

"[Mainlanders] have already crossed our bottom line," said Yung Jhon, who refused to disclose his real name. "Why are mainland mothers flooding in to take up resources in public hospitals, getting our benefits and social welfare? Why do mainlanders ... refuse to follow our rules and order? We can't accept that."

Culture critic Jimmy Pang Chi-ming warned the hostility had reached a critical point and welcomed the ad. "It not only shows Hong Kong has freedom of speech, but also shows mainland leaders just how serious this cultural clash has become," he said, adding that the dispute reflected resistance towards mainland culture. "Hong Kong people do not want Hong Kong to become mainland China."

Denny Ho Kwok-leung, associate professor at Polytechnic University's Department of Applied Social Science, said placing the ad in a mainstream newspaper indicated the row was unlikely to end any time soon. He warned that the city's authorities must uphold Hong Kong's core values, including the rule of law and freedom of speech. "It is very important for the police and the courts to stick to the principles because if they cannot do that, people will lose their faith in the system, and Hong Kong will collapse in no time," Ho said.

The row broke out at the start of last month when Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana allegedly banned locals from taking pictures outside its Canton Road flagship store, causing a mass protest.

Tensions rose when Peking University professor Kong Qingdong called Hongkongers "bastards" and "running dogs of the British government", in an internet talk show in response to a video clip of a Hongkonger's dispute with a group of mainland tourists eating on a train.

Web users coined the term "locusts" to describe mainlanders who consume resources in the city - including delivering babies here in order to obtain benefits - and splash their cash, on the property market and at luxury shops, with the effect of driving up rents and forcing out small businesses.

Residents are also disgruntled at the increasing use of simplified Chinese characters. Images of signs bearing such characters have circulated widely online.

"We hope the authorities can pay attention to this worsening cultural clash," said Yung, who claimed he was twenty-something and worked in the construction sector. "Now we will see if the government really listens to the people's voice."

He said all the banking transactions for funding the ad were displayed on Facebook and Golden Forum, the two social media platforms he used to stage the campaign. (SCMP)

FBA: Bona to introduce movie ratings to China
Jin Bo, marketing director of Bona Cineplex, stated that the in-house system — which could launch in late February — will only give guidance and will not enforce any age restrictions.

The story is set one hundred years ago, after the Xinhai Revolution. During the period of social upheaval, two important families in White Deer Village in Shaanxi province war over land ownership, with a woman caught between them.

ChinaDaily: Yao Ming eying film business
Foreign media report that Jay Cohen, an American film producer, is setting up a film finance fund with Yao Ming, which has caught the attention of China's media and public.

Newly released poster for "Nightfall" starring Simon Yam and Nick Cheung. Film is now in post-production.

Richard Mille celebrates the year of the dragon with a watch that not only pays tribute to the legendary creature, but also his personal friend, international kungfu superstar Jackie Chan. On the front of the RM 057, a dragon grips the tourbillon bridge in one of its claws, while on the back on the black onyx base plate, a round engraved Jackie Chan signature rotates once every 60 seconds in time with the tourbillon's rotation. Limited edition of 36 pieces in 18K red gold or white gold with a red gold dragon. (A1)

The singer declares that she wants to arrange for her soon-to-be-born son to marry Andy’s daughterMSN: Andy Lau and wife expecting a baby girl
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau was previously speculated to be expecting a baby boy with his wife. This may not be true anymore with the singer's recent announcement.

With rumors that Hong Kong actress, Maggie Cheungunderwent plastic surgery to still be viable in the Chinese movie industry, the 47-year-old made a comeback with saying she is undeterred by ageing.

Don’t look now, but TVs may again be made in U.S.Believe It Or Not: TV Manufacturing Returning To The US
Of course, they first looked at Mexico, but eventually realized that it was actually a better deal to manufacture in the US, saying it's still cheaper on shipping both parts and final products and would allow the company to react faster to market changes. The company also believes they'll save money in training and retaining workers in the US. Who knows if there's more going on behind the scenes here, but considering how big a story it was when all TV manufacturing left the US, it's certainly noteworthy that (at least at one plant) it's come back from Asia.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

As Mitt Romney would say, Corporations are people [albeit, overseas people.].

NYTimes: How U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work
One former executive described how the company relied upon a Chinese factory to revamp iPhone manufacturing just weeks before the device was due on shelves. Apple had redesigned the iPhone’s screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly line overhaul. New screens began arriving at the plant near midnight.

A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company’s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.

“The speed and flexibility is breathtaking,” the executive said. “There’s no American plant that can match that.”

A production line in Foxconn City in Shenzhen, China. The iPhone is assembled in this vast facility, which has 230,000 employees, many at the plant up to 12 hours a day, six days a week.

The piece uses Apple and its recent history to look at why the success of some U.S. firms hasn't led to more U.S. jobs--and to examine issues regarding the relationship between corporate America and Americans (as well as people overseas). One of the questions it asks is: Why isn't more manufacturing taking place in the U.S.? And Apple's answer--and the answer one might get from many U.S. companies--appears to be that it's simply no longer possible to compete by relying on domestic factories and the ecosystem that surrounds them.

Apple typically asks suppliers to specify how much every part costs, how many workers are needed and the size of their salaries. Executives want to know every financial detail. Afterward, Apple calculates how much it will pay for a part. Most suppliers are allowed only the slimmest of profits.

“The only way you make money working for Apple is figuring out how to do things more efficiently or cheaper,” said an executive at one company that helped bring the iPad to market. “And then they’ll come back the next year, and force a 10 percent price cut.”

“You can set all the rules you want, but they’re meaningless if you don’t give suppliers enough profit to treat workers well,” said one former Apple executive with firsthand knowledge of the supplier responsibility group. “If you squeeze margins, you’re forcing them to cut safety.”

NYTimes: Chinese Readers On The 'IEconomy'
The New York Times partnered with Caixin, a Chinese business magazine, to publish the article in Chinese. The goal was twofold: to share the content of the article with readers in China, and to solicit Chinese comments for translation into English that might prove illuminating for readers of the English-language article on NYTimes.com.

Voices of Chinese Workers in the ‘iEconomy’
In much of the debate surrounding these issues, one group’s voice is notably quiet: the factory workers themselves. Many of them are young migrants, attracted by the prospect of steady work and chances for advancement.

Chengdu has developed faster than other cities in Sichuan. In recent years it has become home to the regional headquarters of international high-tech companies such as Dell, Lenovo, Foxconn and TCL.

Some 50 percent of all laptop computer chips in the world are tested in Chengdu and 20 percent of all computers worldwide -- including 70 percent of Apple's iPads -- will soon be made in the city. (ChinaWatch)

A group of internet users are set to stoke tensions between Hongkongers and mainlanders by raising money for a front-page advert in a local newspaper to criticise visitors from across the border.

Members of the Hong Kong Golden Forum raised HK$40,000 in five days to fund the advertisement in Apple Daily. The biggest individual contributor gave HK$6,000.

The fund-raising posts on the forum have been made under the title "Against Locusts". Locusts is a term used by many disgruntled Hongkongers for mainlanders who they say swamp the city's resources.

Many of the proposed designs for the advertisement contain a picture of the insect. Some refer to what internet users call the "unacceptable behaviour" of mainland visitors.

Forum organisers said the funds raised would allow them to buy a half-page advertisement on the front page of Apple Daily.

They will continue collecting money until Sunday.

The ad campaign follows a series of rows over the behaviour of mainland tourists and Hongkongers' attitude towards them. Last week, Peking University professor Kong Qingdong branded Hongkongers "dogs" after footage appeared on the internet of MTR passengers berating a mainland family for allowing a child to eat in a carriage.

Kong has since denied making the remarks to internet TV channel V1, claiming his words were "maliciously twisted" by the media on the mainland and in Hong Kong.

Users of the forum also criticised mainland women coming to give birth at hospitals in the city and accused mainland tourists of forcing up the price of baby formula. A decision by fashion house Dolce & Gabbana to ban locals from taking photographs outside its store at Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, while allowing foreigners and visitors from the mainland to do so, also inflamed tensions. (SCMP)

Braving the cold, some 40 mainland mothers marched on government headquarters in Admiralty yesterday to demand permanent residency so they can care for their children, who they say are living like orphans in the city.

An estimated 7,000 children born to mainland women have Hong Kong fathers who have died or abandoned the family, according to the Society for Community Organisation (Soco), citing Social Welfare Department data on children receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance.

"These children are living like orphans, and were left to take care of themselves from a young age," said Sze Lai-shan, a community organiser for Soco.

The protesters called on the government to use its discretionary powers to grant the women eligibility for permanent identity cards as part of the daily quota of 150 mainlanders allowed to move permanently to live in Hong Kong. Most of the quota places are given to children coming to live with parents in the city.

The mothers use a two-way travel permit to cross the border in order to take care of their children, Sze said.

If the women are temporarily unable to renew their permits, they may be forced to take their children out of school and return with them to the mainland.

"These mothers and children are suffering from pressure and fear," Sze said. "Many families cannot reunite even at Lunar New Year." (SCMP)

The temperature went up a tad last week and model-actress Angelababy Yeung Wing just could not wait to show off some flesh. Donning a bright, sleeveless dress, Yeung officiated at the Lunar New Year floral-themed decorations at Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui, finishing off a painting featuring blooming cherry blossoms.

In return, the "god of wealth" - to whom Yeung gave a big hug (pictured) - presented her with three gifts, namely a pyramid of pink macaroons, an auspicious banner and a bouquet to wish her a sweet and successful year.

Fresh back from Beijing for a quick visit before skipping away with her family for the holiday, Yeung denied rumours that she had already married her mainland actor boyfriend Huang Xiaoming.

"I haven't got married yet. It's something joyful and I'll definitely share the good news with everybody when I'm tying the knot," she said.

Also the owner of a nail salon and a restaurant, Yeung said "an actress's career in show business is not going to last forever" and that she wanted to open five more outlets of her budding restaurant chain. (SCMP)